A James Everhard Mystery

A James Everhard Adventure

By Wayne Wallace

 

A summer evening in July, 1962. One of those evenings when the extreme heat of the day took til nearly midnight to give up and allow the evening breeze to cool things down a little.  It was three hours short of the bewitching hour and  James Everhard Jr., sat in his old Chevy, his Hawaiian shirt sticking to his back.  He pushed the button on the speaker at Holly's Drtive Inn and ordered a root beer with lots of ice.  In the slot next to his old Chevy sat one fine automobile, and James began to fondle the beautiful machine with his mind.  A red and white 57' Corvette. He lovingly appraised the car from bumper to bumper.  Cherry red.   Fuel Injection flags graced the apex of the cream insert.  "God, what a ride," he thought to himself." She'll do every bit of the 140 on the speedometer too!"  A feminine voice said, abruptly bringing James back to the real world.  James was shocked to see that the driver of this dream car was a gorgeous blonde.  "Uh, er, nice car," was all James could manage to utter.  For as beautiful as the Corvette was, it paled in comparison to its shockingly beautiful driver.  "You go to school around here?" the beautiful blonde inquired.  "Uh, yeah, I go to Northwest.  You?" he managed to say.  His heart was racing,and he was sure that she could hear it pounding.  "I graduated from Casady last year.  I'll be going to OU in the fall."  "Casady," James thought, "High class, private school, filthy rich parents, surprised she's even speaking to me...But she is!"  James stepped up the conversation as they spoke car to car.  Her name was Trish and she was 18.  She was very friendly and so damn beautiful!  James was absolutely smitten.  He took a deep breath, summoned up all his courage and asked, "Want to go out Friday night?  Maybe a movie?"  He clenched his teeth waiting for her to bellow with laughter and burn rubber in escape.  Instead, she hesitated for a moment, swallowed, and said, "Uh, well, ....sure!"  She gave him her phone number and address which he wrote down on a past due traffic ticket he pulled from the glovebox and said, Great!  I'll see you Friday, about 7?"  "7 will be wonderful !"  He noticed that she was smiling very broadly and this made him swell a little with pride.  "Bye, see you Friday night," she waved as she backed the Corvette out of its slot and drove away.  James was as high as a kite.  He had just met and made a date with the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.  He wondered how it was possible that a girl this strikingly beautiful and obviously privlidged, was not booked solid with college guys every Friday night till New Years Eve.  He decided not to question his good fortune and drove his old chevy home.

 

Chapter 2

James was so excited about his upcoming date with Trish that the week seemed to drag by like the days before Christmas.  He washed and shined and cleaned up his old chevy like he never had before.  He bought a brand new Hawaiian shirt at Parks Men's Wear in Penn Square just for the occasion.  He even shined his penny loafers. He gave a lot of thought to what they would do on the date.  He would take her to see the new film, "The Longest Day," it was opening at the Criterion Friday night and there was already talk of an Academy Award nomination.  He considered "Lawrence of Arabia" but it had been out for a couple of weeks and she had probably already seen it. He would call her tonight and ask her which movie she wanted to see.  A lot of people were talking about Burt Lancaster's new film "The Birdman of Alcatraz."  He would let her choose.  Just the thought of calling her on the phone excited him.  And then there was dinner to consider.  In his opinion, The 89er Inn on Lincoln was the coolest place to take a date for dinner, but then there was also Sleepy Hollow or Sussy's Hideaway.  Again, he would ask her preference when he called her tonight.

James had a summer job working at a small shop in the new Penn Square Shopping Mall, a place called Kabet's.  From this job he had saved a little money and this date would be very special, he was prepared to spend $25, or maybe even more!  That evening, James went to his room and dialed the number he had written down on the crumpled traffic ticket.  A distinguished sounding man answered the phone and he asked for Trish.  Seconds later, she was on the phone.  "James?!" she said excitedly. "I was afraid you wouldn't call."  "How did she know it would be me?"  He wondered.  He was astonished at her being so excited.  They talked for over an hour, both indicating their excitement over the upcoming date.  They decided together on Sleepy Hollow and "The Birdman of Alcatraz."  "Okay, then see you tomorrow night at 7," James told her.  "I can't wait James," Trish sighed. He hung up the phone and sighed.  Less than 24 hours until the date of his lifetime..........

 

Chapter 3

Friday evening came and it was a beautifully, warm, clear evening.  James drove to the Nichols Hills address and parked at the curb in front of an enormous home.  In the long driveway were parked Trish's corvette, a black Mercedes sedan, a Jaguar XKE and a Cadillac convertible.  As he walked by the sleek, 57' Corvette, he noticed something very peculiar. There were, inside the Corvette, an assortment of odd-looking hand controls that he was not familiar with.  He made a mental note to ask Trish about them later.  As he approached the front of the elaborate mansion, he also noted, with interest, that a side entrance that emerged from under a huge, green striped canvas awning, was equipped with a wheel chair ramp that merged with the front sidewalk.  "Someone in the home must be confined to a wheel chair," he thought.  At last, he reached the ornately, hand carved, oak door. He rang the bell.

The tall man who answered the door was dressed in a white waistcoat and black tie.  It took James a moment to realize that this man was, in fact, a butler.  He had never before seen a butler and was not sure what to say.  He didn't have to say anything, as it turned out, the butler took control of the situation.  "Master Everhard, good evening.  I shall inform Miss Fitzgerald of your arrival.  Please make yourself comfortable here in the library."  The butler led him to an enormous, oak-paneled room with probably a thousand books on its shelves. He walked around the room looking at the beautifully bound first editions and other rare books.  After a few moments, the butler returned, pushing a wheel chair. Sitting in the chair was the beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed Trish Fitzgerald.  She wore a yellow print blouse and a pleated gray skirt, below the hem of the skirt, James saw that both of her legs had be amputated just above the knee.  The look of shock escaped him before he could squelch it and she immediately saw it.  "You may leave us Charles," she told the butler, who nodded and left the room.  "I'm sorry I tricked you James.  If you want out of the date, it's okay.  I'm used to it," she told him coldly.  This was all happening very quickly but James managed to think as quickly as the situation was unfolding, "Not on your life schweetheaht," he said, mimicking Humphrey Bogart, "You're stuck with me tonight, and I don't know about you, but I'm starved, so, let's go eat, okay?"  With this he took the handles of the wheelchair and pushed her toward the side entrance he had seen earlier.  She looked up at him and smiled an unsure, yet amused smile.  He wheeled her down the ramp to the driveway and all the way to the street and his vintage, spit shined chevy.  He opened the side door and lifted her from the chair and into the chevy seat. He closed the door and then folded the chair and put it into the back seat.  He hopped into the driver's seat, started the engine, pulled the shifter into first and drove toward the restaurant.

After they had driven a few blocks, Trish broke the silence.  "I should have let you know you up front about my situation James, I'm sorry, but I haven't been out on a date in a long time. I was afraid you wouldn't have asked me out."  James thought for a moment, "I have to be honest, I might not have Trish, and that's terrible! You shouldn't have to make your physical impairment a factor in whether or not someone asks you out, you're a beautiful woman."  "That's a noble statement Mr. Everhard, however, I have to trick boys into asking me out, every single time, otherwise, I'd never get to go out."  She said, fighting back tears.  Very fortunately for James Everhard, who hadn't a clue what to say next, they arrived at the restaurant.  The parking attendant removed the chair from the back seat and James lifted the lovely girl into the chair.  James noticed the looks of pity on the faces of the people at the restaurant and heard their comments.  He thought about how hard it must be for her to have to deal with this every day of her life. This was a full nine years before the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the absence of ramps and the narrow doorways presented a number of problems for them to get the wheel chair to their seats in the fabled restaurant. At last seated, and their dinner ordered, Trish told him of the horrible car crash that had taken her two best friends' lives and had cost her both of her legs.  He remembered having read about the devastating crash in the newspaper about two years ago.  She continued, by telling him about the series of painful surgeries that she had been through over the past couple of years.  As their food arrived and they began to eat, she told him how the kids at her school now treated her like a "freak."  This was an especially hard transition for her because she had previously been a cheerleader, she had been the all-sports queen, and she had had a steady boyfriend, a very popular boy, captain of the football team, who just suddenly stopped calling her shortly after the accident. Now all the popularity, the glamour she had enjoyed had stopped, because of her disfigurement.  James told her that all of that, the all-sports queen, the cheerleader stuff, the football hero boyfriend, had all been superficial, fake. None of her supposed friends had been sincere, and that anyone who would think of a charming woman such as herself as a "freak" was, pure and simply, an idiot.  She looked at him, and as a tear ran down her cheek, she bent across the table and kissed him gently on the lips.

Later, he wheeled her into the Will Rogers Theater and about halfway to the front of the seating area, in a gesture rare to the time, an aisle seat had been removed to accommodate a wheelchair.  That was where they sat and enjoyed "The Birdman of Alcatraz" while holding hands and occasionally sharing a short, sweet, kiss.  As the movie ended, they told each other how much they had enjoyed it and how they both felt that both the film and Burt Lancaster deserved an oscar.  They waited for the crowd to exit before they left the theater, talking casually and laughing together.

Later, they drove from the theater parking lot, she had scooted close to him on the seat and her arm was around him as he steered and shifted the vintage Chevrolet.  "Where to?" He asked her.  "Somewhere lonely and quiet, where we can talk," she said softly, staring deeply into his eyes.

 

Chapter 4

James drove the Chevy to Meridian Park.  This was a golf course that was being subdivided into a shopping center and a housing addition.  Some of the more wooded areas provided wonderful "parking" spots for teens, who were looking for a quiet spot, where they could talk.  He parked under a stand of trees and turned off the engine.  It was a quiet night and the moon was full.  The starts provided a tapestry of beauty.  James spread out a blanket and helped Trish from the car to the spot he had prepared for them.  They talked for hours and kissed and held each other.

"James, make love to me," she whispered into his ear.  James undressed her and gasped at her beauty in the moonlight.  She helped him out of his clothes and they lay in each other's arms.  As he attempted to enter her, she whispered to him, "James, lift me up to the branch above."  He did so and she grabbed the large branch with her very powerful arms.  "Now walk under me," she whispered.  He did so as well.  As he positioned himself under her, she slowly let herself down onto him.  The union was immediate and sensational.  This was not only the most unusual position in which he had ever made love, it was the best sex he had ever enjoyed.  After their lovemaking, James helped her down and as they dressed, she said, "Oh James, that was so wonderful."  He kissed her and told her that he had never enjoyed sex as much in all his life.As they drove back to her home, they made plans for the next day and joyously told each other how happy they were to be together.  After he wheeled her up to the door, he kissed her and told her that he would call her in the morning.  "Oh James, I am so happy!" she told him as she went inside and closed the door.  As he walked back to his car, he noticed the dark figure of someone standing by his car and the glow of a cigarette.  As he got closer, he saw that it was none other than Charles, the butler.  "Aw, Mr. Everhard, I just wanted to thank you and tell you what a fine young man you are." The butler told him.  "I don't understand," James said.  The butler went on to explain.  "You see, Miss Patricia, often tricks young men into these dates, and most of the young men are not as kind as are you, Mr. Everhard."  Still puzzled, James asked, "What do you mean?"  "You see," the butler intoned, "most boys leave her hanging from the tree."

 

Epilogue

After hitting his "punch line" Charles began to bellow laughter.  That was when James used a move his detective father had taught him.  He jammed his fist up hard into the man's solar plexes and when he wheezed hard for air, James kneed him hard in the groin.  Charles crumpled up on the sidewalk in pain and James drove away.

The next morning, when James called Trish, they were both just as ecstatic as they had been the night before.  Trish offered to come pick him up at his house.  He took the opportunity to introduce her to his parents, James Sr. & Donna.  While there, James Sr's good friend, David Sabolich, the Prostetic Genius, was visiting, and talked to Trish about prostetics.  She made an appointment to see him the following week. The rest of the summer belonged to James Jr. & Trish.......

 

THE END